Category Archives: Dispensationalism

Christian Support for the State of Israel: Is it Biblical?

For Christians who believe that all are created in the image of God, with equal worth and dignity, what are we called to do for the people of the Holy Land? How can we be faithful and faith-filled peacemakers and justice-seekers? A presentation given during a recent webinar hosted by Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA).

In this conference, we considered how we can respond to Christian Zionist theology and bring love-inspired, biblically based teaching and action to our congregations and communities.

A summary of my presentation is accessible here

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Christian Zionism: Roadmap to Armageddon – Republished

“I am glad to commend Stephen Sizer’s groundbreaking critique of Christian Zionism. His comprehensive overview of its roots, its theological basis, and its political consequences is very timely. I myself believe that Zionism, both political and Christian, is incompatible with biblical faith. Stephen’s book has helped to reinforce this conviction.” — Rev. Dr. John Stott

New Preface

The seeds of this book were sown over forty years ago when, as a young Christian, I devoured Hal Lindsey’s best-selling book, The Late Great Planet Earth, and heard in person his mesmerising lectures on eschatology. It seemed as if the Bible was literally coming true before our very eyes. 

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Kumi Now: What is Christian Zionism?

Kumi Now are working to connect activists around the world with the organizations working on the ground in Palestine and Israel to bring a just and lasting peace based on international law and nonviolence.

All Palestinians regardless of their faith face similar challenges. However, Palestinian Christians face a specific kind of challenge from Christian Zionists who manipulate scripture to support the oppression of Palestinians. On August 22, 2006 Palestinian Christian churches addressed the threat of Christian Zionism with the “Jerusalem Declaration on Christian Zionism.” We mark the anniversary of the declaration by learning about Christian Zionism and learning what you can do so that together we can rise up.

Continue reading about Kumi Action and resources for download Kumi Now

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Cyrus Ingerson Scofield: Charlatan and Heretic

1. Scofield: The Christian Leader with Feet of Clay 
2. The Link between Darby and Scofield in the Rise of Dispensationalism 
3. Scofield’s Dispensational Hermeneutic: ‘Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth’
4. Scofield, the Brethren and the Bible Prophecy Conference Movement 
5. The Significance of the Scofield Reference Bible 
6. Scofield’s Seven Dispensations 
7. The Denigration of the Church within the Purposes of God 
8. The Elevation of National Israel to a Superior Role over the Church
9. Prophetic Promises of a New Covenant with a Restored National Israel
10. Speculations on Armageddon and the Day of the Lord
11. Conclusions: The Legacy of Scofieldism on Christian Zionism

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Defending Christian Zionism: A Response

As a young Christian at Sussex University in the early 1970’s, I was enthralled by David Pawson’s biblically-based teaching and coveted his weekly teaching audio cassette tapes, especially on controversial theological and political subjects. He taught me to root my faith in scripture and apply it to every aspect of life. Forty years on, I remember David with respect and admiration. View his website here.

Following the publication of his book Defending Christian Zionism, twelve years ago, in May 2008 I wrote the following review. We also debated one another on Premier Christian Radio that same month.

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What is Christian Zionism?

Why such a close relationship between Israel and the United States of America? What is the fascination with Israel among Evangelical Christians in America?  There is a simple explanation. At least one in four American Christians surveyed recently by Christianity Today magazine said that they believe it is their biblical responsibility to support the nation of Israel. This view is known as Christian Zionism.

At its simplest, Christian Zionism is Christian support for Zionism. The driving principle of Christian Zionism is the belief in the abiding relevance of the promise God made to Abraham in Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse and all the peoples on the earth will be blessed through you”. 

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Christian Zionism: Seven Biblical Answers

It is not an understatement to say that what is at stake is our understanding of the gospel, the centrality of the cross, the role of the church, and the nature of our missionary mandate, not least, to the beloved Jewish people. If we don’t see Jesus at the heart of the Hebrew scriptures, and the continuity between his Old Testament and New Testament saints in the one inclusive Church, we’re not reading them correctly. The key question is this “Was the coming of Jesus and the birth of the Church the fulfilment or the postponement of the promises God made to Abraham?” Christian Zionists see the promises of identity, land and destiny as part of an ongoing covenant God has with the Jewish people. In the following resources I answer this question and show that Christian Zionism is a recent manifestation of a heresy refuted by the Old and New Testaments.

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Chosen? Reading the Bible amid the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict by Walter Brueggemann: A Review

066426154X-2In his short but passionate little book, Chosen? Walter Brueggemann addresses some of the important questions regarding God’s purposes for Israel and the Church. For example, are contemporary Israeli citizens the descendants of the Israelites in the Bible whom God called chosen? Was the promise of land to Abraham permanent and irrevocable? What about others living in the promised land? Who are the Zionists, and what do they believe? The subtitle of the book tells us where he intends to look for answers, “Reading the Bible amid the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.” His publisher, Westminster John Knox, promises,

“The reader will get answers to their key questions about how to understand God’s promises to the biblical people often called Israel and the conflict between Israel and Palestine today.”

Chosen? comprises 59 pages of scripture commentary in four short chapters, a Q&A with the author, a glossary and 20-page study guide to facilitate group discussion around each of the chapters. The four chapters are:

  1. Reading the Bible amid the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
  2. God’s Chosen People, Claim and Problem
  3. Holy Land?
  4. Zionism and Israel

The book also contains very helpful guidelines for respectful dialogue first published by the Presbyterian General Assembly in 1992.  Significantly, the title includes a question mark.  I added a question mark to the titles of two of my own books: Christian Zionism: Roadmap to Armageddon? and Zion’s Christian Soldiers? The Bible, Israel and the Church.[i]  Walter is recognising, as I did, that views differ on whether the Jews are God’s chosen people, even though, unlike me, he personally concludes that they are.

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